Time Will Tell
by FinalEmblem
Summary: Musiea finds her relationship with Escher troubling. Alternate/expanded dialogue for the Purgatory fight scene. Actually in the Chaos Rings section now!


_A/N_: I love Chaos Rings and it's many story lines, but had it been on any console other than the iPod, I would expect a little more story to it. So I wrote this as a possible alternate dialogue for Escher/Musiea's story while in the Purgatory cutscene when they fight. I don't take the dialogue directly from the game/I changed some of their wording around. Sorry if they seem a little out of character but I'm trying to expand on their story, so I'm injecting a little more emotions into Escher even though this is before he learns the truth, and Musiea is the narrator so she may seem a little different than the game.

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I doubt anyone out there can appreciate how difficult it is for one to be forced into a situation with one that you've learned to hate and be having the feelings that I do. He's a terrible human being, and half of me can't stand that smile he's always got plastered on his face... Yet there's half of me that wants to embrace him for who he is, for no reason whatsoever...

He's rude, cares only for himself, and stands for everything I was brought up to be opposed to... The man is an assassin, he killed those who were like family to me. He left me and the children alone to fend for ourselves, not caring for anyone's well being but his own. He only cares what becomes of himself. Well, he can have his immortality, I want no part of that.

... Now if only I could feel this way about him all the time...

I look at him and find myself praying that I'm wrong about him, always hoping that there is some explanation for his horrid actions beyond what he has already told me. Why is this so difficult? Why can I not just kill him? Why do I have to stall my revenge with the likely impossible hope that he isn't as bad a person as he seems? Why did I feel obligated to give him his medication? None of this makes sense to me, I have never felt so inwardly conflicting... The confusion is almost as insufferable as Escher himself.

"You've been awfully quiet, girl." He said impatiently. It's almost sickening giving in to him all this time. I have been only giving him what he wants, getting him closer to eternal life...

"Yes, well... I have a lot on my mind." Was all I could manage. Understandably I do not feel like talking to him, especially while I try to sort out my emotions. I need to settle this once and for all and answer the question that's been plaguing me for this entire tournament... Do I truly hate him? I feel as though had we met under different circumstances I would be okay with him... maybe even... No, I can't ever even imagine myself feeling anything but hatred toward this sinister man, he has earned my hatred. He _did_ do all those terrible things, there's no point in thinking about what it would be like if he didn't... It is final, I need to settle this once and for all, I want my revenge.

I stopped, he walked a little further before noticing I didn't follow.

"What's the hold up, woman?" He growled. Just another reason I can't stand him, he always has to be demeaning, sarcastic or angry, there's no room for real emotion like love or sadness.

"Fight me." I whispered just loud enough to reach his ears. Instead of dignifying me with a response, he merely scoffed, motioned me with his hand and continued on his way. Not one to be ignored I raised my voice, "Fight me! If you don't I can't continue!"

This got his attention, without me there was no chance at winning, and without winning, no immortality.

"I don't have time for your games, Musiea. I need to win this competition, gain my eternal life, and then I'll go back to doing what I did before this stupid place." He gave me another one of those grim smiles, "I have better things to be doing with my life outside of this bullshit competition."

His persistence on ignoring me was getting to be too much. I drew my weapon and lunged at him. He took his mighty blade and blocked my assault. He then pushed me backwards. He looked up to the sky and said,

"Hey, Agent! I'm gonna teach this girl a thing or two about how to use a sword, don't think I have any plans on killing her. This is demonstration and demonstration only." How dare he! He's so arrogant that he just assumes he's going to be able to thwart my efforts without a true fight? I had to intervene.

"No! This is a fight! Rest assured, I want you dead, Escher! You have to pay for what you did to the priest and the sisters! It makes me sick! And do you know why? Not just because you killed them, but because you can relate to me!" I was crying at this point, "You even said yourself, when the thieves that raised you were murdered before your eyes, that their flaws were not important, they were still family!" I was becoming angrier by the moment, yet there was something else going on inside me too...

"Silly, silly Musiea." He laughed, "You can never understand what I'm dealing with..." Even now he was still grinning, why can't he show a glimpse of human emotion? "I don't have to explain myself to you, I have my reasons for everything I do. I killed your priest because I was told to by my organization. And I work for that organization for the same reason I'm trying to win this competition, to outlast my critical condition, I want to keep living."

I couldn't contain my frustration any longer, "But why?" I demanded, "Why is it so important that you survive?" I didn't wait for an answer, I simply dashed at him. We both drew our weapons and let them clash. I jumped back and tried to stab him, but he blocked my attack and shoved me once again. He's far too strong, I can't possibly hope to defeat him... But for the sake of my family, I need to try, so I resolved to jump back to my feet and slashed at him once again. He dodged me yet again. I tripped and fell with a thud... He watched me get back on my feet. I slowly approached him, sword at full extent. He backed up slowly to a wall. Was he letting me corner him? I had no time to worry about it, I lunged forward one final time. Instead of shoving me once again, he dodged, grabbed my arm, shoved me into the wall and pressed me up against it with his blade. To my surprise, he stopped smirking.

"I don't have to tell a girl I hardly even know what my purpose is. This isn't your problem so I'm not going to bother you with it. Now just let go of your silly grudge because we are getting nowhere fast. I have no wish or desire to fight you, and since I have no reason to, I don't wish to kill you."

Damn it! Again, I find myself wanting to get to know about him, not kill him. Why do I feel this way? I've justified my reasons to kill him a countless number of times, yet I fail to follow through. Not only do I not want to kill him right now, but I'm actually feeling an odd attraction to him. The worst part is is that my hatred is justified, my fascination is not...

"I don't get it!" I started crying slightly. To both our surprise he gave a look of sorrow to my tears. "You're a wicked person, but you still show honor... You use your sword for evil, but it's still straight... and true... Which is why I don't get it! Why did you do the things you did? I know that if you hadn't killed the priest and sisters merely because you were told to, I would see an honorable man in you... But you're corrupt and I don't know how I can trust you... But at the same time I really want to!..."

I looked him in the eyes to see an uneasy look, "But that means nothing to you, does it?" I whispered.

He kept me pressed to the wall, but not as forcefully, "You need to let my concerns go. I don't keep things from you because I hate you, or because my past is too dark, or anything like that. I simply don't want to involve you, especially since my history has led me hurt you in some way, I doubt you would sympathize anyway..." He gave me a firm look, "I don't know why we're partners, Musiea, but dammit I need to win that immortality and I can't do that with you getting like this. So just hear me out, I don't want you to understand me, I just want you to help me get as far as we can in this tournament, and then you can finally be done with me."

This is the sort of thing that tears me apart, why does he have to be so sinister and evil some times and be so honest in moments like these. There has to be some reason why we were paired together other than the sole reason that he wronged me... Everyone we know, and had known had good reason to be with their partner. We can't be the one exception, which is why I feel myself having feelings for him. I'm putting his bad qualities in the back and only paying attention to his good ones. But the fact he did what he did makes it hard to believe I can find anything worth seeing in him...

"I don't want to be done with you yet, Escher..." I whispered. "I can't shake the feeling that we were both brought here for a reason... And I feel like knowing about you is going to help us discover that reason..."

"I understand why you feel that way, but I feel like we would have established this already if it was anything of importance..."

I can't stand his attitude! He is so naive and pessimistic, I can't stand it! He preaches we need to work together, well maybe knowing more about him is my way of making it possible to work together. But he's too worried only caring about himself to think rationally.

"I won't stop, you know..." I hissed under my breath. "We need to know why we were picked to move on..." I seemed to reach a point of realization for him. He knew we couldn't go on without the "proof" of our partnership.

"Yeah..." His anger seemed to show itself again, he was becoming increasingly defensive. "Well I'll tell you when I'm ready to. And not a moment sooner, got it?" He pressed his sword a little harder into me, enough to make me gasp at the sudden loss of air.

"Why are you like this?" I asked tearfully, "Just because you have done wrong doesn't mean you have to continue down your path of evil!"

"I'm not going to continue arguing this any further. Now just let me hear you say you're going to stop making things so difficult."

And then, I finally lost it. All of these emotions of hate, and understanding, and passion and arguing. They all took over my body. I couldn't tell why I was doing what I was doing. But I freed a hand from his force. He seemed confused, but I still can't say I knew what I was doing either, so I probably looked fairly similar. I grabbed his arm and moved along all the way up to his neck. His eyes were wide and full of confusion, but my hand moved seemingly without control of my brain. As if instinctually I pulled his face closer to mine, just slow enough to have time to realize he wasn't resisting. At this point I was allowing myself to continue. When his breath was blowing gently on my nose, I looked up into his eyes, closed my own and placed my lips onto his.

I heard him grunt slightly in resistance, but that soon ended. It was amazing to let my emotions out even if this was not an ideal way. I mean, I still hated him for everything he did to me and my family... but this was a needed outlet for everything I was feeling. I forgot about everything that was going on in my life, the conflict, the tournament, everything. For a few blissful seconds I was completely at ease. I knew as soon as this kiss ended I would have even more to deal with, but it was great to taste relief through Escher's lips.

But then it really hit me that I was sharing a kiss with _Escher_. I felt like such an idiot for doing this...

I pulled away from his face, blushing, and immediately looked away. As much as I needed to let my feelings go for the moment, I was still angry at him and humiliated at my actions. Some part of me hoped that he would attempt to reciprocate in some way, but I knew that was too much to expect. He grinned his normal cocky grin and released me from the wall.

"Well that wasn't the answer I was expecting." He laughed, "I won't tell anyone if you won't hehe. I knew it was only a matter of time before you gave in to your attraction to me... But I'm gonna have to tell you that you need to get over your feelings for me." Why that good for nothing!... Ugh..."Let's not complicate things shall we? I have my eyes set on the prize right now, and nothing else... Immortality is waiting for me, so if this little moment is over I'd like to continue."

He continued on, and that was the end of that... He just completely ignored what just happened... I suppose he really is just a selfish person who only thinks for himself... Yet... I still maintain hope that he's a better person than that... I guess only time will tell...


End file.
